And the best motion picture goes to....

TITANIC

(crowd goes wild as I fail the class)

In seriousness the list is as follows best to worst

O' Brother Where Out There  Loved the storyline and how it was presented. Also like Greek Mythology so the references where awesome to see
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly I am a sucker for Westerns, raised on John Wayne, but along with that is the fact that actual cinematic shots could be used instead of watching "the Duke" on screen for the whole movie
Spoorloos Never though i would like reading subtitles. As it wasnt a horror in my book it still had the suspense and how it was shown that she was kidnapped and kill was a new take.
Sherlock Jr. Loved the slap stick comedy and simplicity of it
Moonrise Kingdom While i have no complaints about the movie and the different shots like the long tracking shots and Mise en scene visually were interesting, it just seemed like another love story
End of Watch Alot more entertaining than i thought it would have been but at this position because the wrong guy died
Awara The underlining message of class warfare was interesting how it was played out. Along with seeing how other major productions from other countries
Detour It was interesting to see the references to the film noir genre but not my cup of tea
Freaks The brotherhood of group and being miss-classified as a horror is all that made the movie interesting
My Own Private Idaho To be honest fell asleep a few times during the movie and had to go back. And again never got the underlying plot.
Killer of Sheep I didnt quite get the references until class and many of the cinematographic shots were painful
Wendy and Lucy Movie just kind of annoyed me. Very cut and dry. I also am not one for politics, its all corrupt

Moonrise Kingdom Scene review

The first shot in the this sequence of shots is a long shot with the cop car with an adult leaning on it placed on the left side, windmill centered extremely far off, and the scouts sporadically spread out in the field. This shot has everything spread and is showing the scouts looking for the two main characters. The field is extremely large suggesting finding a needle in a hay stack. The Lighting and cloud cover is gray and overcast giving the feeling that the search is not going to well. 

Next the father (Bill Murray) pops up and is centered in the picture as the shot becomes a mid shot with scouts off to the right and the police cars off to the left. Bill Murray looks lost and not sure what to do. The black eye is prevalent and it almost looks like he has no clue what is going reminding be of a boxer that has been hit and daised and confused.

The shot then tracks right as bill murray moves right murmuring about the batteries as the scout master and phone operator talking about Murray and how he hit his face some how in the dark last night. This again shows his wondering and aimlessly moving around while "searches" for his daughter. the shot is in-between mid to full shot with again the wind mill centered as the master and operator on the right quietly having their own conversation to me showing that murray is partly separated from the community. As normally people will just as how he got the black eye. 

As the shot tracks Murray the love triangle comes into place with Murray centered in the background almost over the shoulder of the the police officer and Murray's wife. This shot shows Murray still daised and depressed and then gets on smaller motor bike bring out the childish nature of Murray's. Its like he is reverting back what he knows almost like a mid life crisis as his wife is having an affair right in front of him. as he reverts back to being child he isnt mature enough to see what is happening right in his face.

Scene in Moonrise kingdom

This is a composition is taken at 1:05:52 in Moonrise-Kingdom which might be seen from what might be a trooper’s point of view of a long shot of this far in the movie might be the head quarters of the Khaki Troop. This mise en scene is broken down into three layers. A scout is sitting in a chair off to juxtaposed to the front and right of the tent that looks to be an elder of who is being shaved by a scout. This shows that he has some importance and might be the leader. In the second layer the tent and totem pole. The tent is centered and say Command tent, presumably is the leader of the regime Tent to operate out of. Along with this is the totem pole placed behind two men giving more of an idea that these men are important suggesting that they are the “high men on the totem pole”.  The next thing that is noticed is the fence in the background showing the name Fort Lebanon in prominence. Giving the viewer the name and that the fort is more important or just overall bigger due to troop 55 not having a name shown so prominent display. Next the order and neatness of how everything is organized and with nothing out of place gives hint that the troop is very well organized and precise. The tent is centered with the name of the camp centered right above, along with the 2 lamps and towers (not that but not sure what to call them) are placed equidistant from the center giving the place a strict no nonsense feel.

Wendy and Lucy accompanied with Awara

I believe that the film Wendy and Lucy would be best accompanied with Awara. The reason I think that these films are alike is due to the fact they are about class warfare and how that affects peoples point of view. The first main example of these compare how class warfare affects people point of view was how that Judge Raghunath believes that “good people are born to good people, and criminals are born to criminals” with how he convicts Jagga just because he in the lower class and his father was a criminal. Then Jagga uses the judge’s son to show how his belief and that class does not make the person. This mimics Wendy and Lucy with how the film takes a shot at jobs and the lower class where the Security Guard Wendy says “you can't get an address without an address. You can't get a job without a job.” This I believe has a shot at how capitalism has taken over and unless you are in the system you are out of luck. Another part of Wendy and Lucy that takes aim at the class differences, where when Wendy is caught shoplifting and taken to the management office by the clerk. He states that the “rules apply to everyone” and “if a person can’t afford dog food they shouldn’t have a dog”. This in my opinion was such an elitist attitude with how he makes a snap decision and becomes judge and jury. It seems like he thinks he is higher that Wendy and I believe showing the cross in plain view had something to do with showing the elitist/virtue attitude.

O Brother,Where Art Thou? with Odyssey theme

One of the main themes that I saw in O Brother,Where Art Thou? was the homage to Homer's Odyssey. This was done in multiple ways and they don't exactly follow what happened in Odyssey. The scene that I think that was done flawlessly, even if it doesn't perfectly align, is the Three Sirens. In the original the main character of Odyssey is the only one that hears the Sirens but in Brother,Where Art Thou? all three characters are lured by the singing of Sirens. And the way it plays homage to Odyssey is that the Sirens are near rocks which in Odyssey they lure the men to the rocks causing the sinking of their ships, where in this case it show cases the down fall of the men and losing their friend.

The scene begins with the trio in the car at 42:40 with Delmar picking at the banjo aimlessly. Then off screen singing begins that sound off in the distance. Pete looks off screen left suggesting the sound is coming from there. 42:46 Pete tells Delmar to stop to assumedly hear the sound better. Camera cuts to point of view shot from the car into what seems like a valley. 42:54 Pete reacts to seeing something and yells for the car to be pulled over. (I didn't see anything in the valley but could have missed what he saw). 43:00 cut to full shot with forest in the background suggesting back country area. Pete darts presumably toward sound while Delmar and Everett get out of the car. 43:10 cut to close up of pete running through bushes and stops, supposedly finding the source of the music which is soft and inviting. 43:13 cutaway to very wide shot of a river and the sirens near some rocks in the river with the singing amplified. 43:18 the main characters in wide shot of rocky river and cut back to wide shot of the sirens and finally showing they are the source of the music. 43:31 cut to mid shot pete introducing himself with Everett and Delmar. Multiple cuts to close ups of the Sirens to the trio showing them seduction beginning with singing continued. 44:51 the siren makes Everett drink alcohol showing even more of the downfall of the trio. 45.24 Cut to mid shot with sirens still singing and camera pans left to show the trio with the sirens. 45:30 a noticeable eerie music in the background maybe giving a precursor to the danger of the sirens

Avant-Garde cinema in My Own Private Idaho's

The scene I think that is Avant-Garde type of cinema in My Own Private Idaho is the where a stranger walks into a shop and some of the characters are on the front cover and begin to talk to each other. I mean something like this was on the Brady Bunch but to have the text of the magazines stay in place and as they move. It seems like some animation and certain cutting of film took place to make this scene possible. The scene begins at 17:34 where you see the camera starts at mid level building wise showing the name a shop. Given by the ad underneath the sign it seems to be an ad XXX shop. 17:35 the camera starts to tilt down giving a view of front of the shop and three people in front. Shows rough neighbor hood, kind of dark and dingy. Then at 17:40 the camera tracks to the right and down of the shop with the three people in view. The music is what I would call Indian music. As the shot lowers you see that the three people are in fact men and gives the impression it is a gay XXX shop. At 17:45 the sound of boots come in and is getting closer. At 17:50 a cowboy comes into full view and enters the shop. The camera flashes inside at 17:57 and a mid shot of the cowboy at his waste as he passes through to the back as the camera tracks him but slowly so that at the end he is in full view while flashing some magazines which could be important. At 18:11 we see Schott on one of the magazines and begins to talk about his experience as a model. This is also where we finally learn about Schott. At 18:49 Schott interacts with Mike on another magazine cover. The covers have at least mid shots. At 19:04 the effect comes into view, the actors on other magazines begin to interact teasing Schott about being able to come into money while all of the actors being in what looks like total different spots/magazines. The purpose of this scene seems to be to get the understanding that Schott has money and show more of the Gay culture.

Comparing Spoorloos to the Vanishing (1993)

When comparing the difference between the Vanishing (also known as Spoorloos) and the Vanishing (1993) one of the first comparisons is how the story line of the movie starts out. This is a big divider on why I think that which separates Spoorloos from the Vanishing. The storyline starts off with the couple in Spoorloos where as the Vanishing begins with the Chemist. The reason why Spoorloos’s beginning is more important to the storyline is because you become more attached to the couple, meeting them, going through a situation/experience with them and then make up. There for I think when the girl is kidnapped it’s more emotional for the audience and leads a better storyline. Whereas the Vanishing you see him testing his kidnapping skills. This leads into my next point about that Spoorloos has more mystique than the Vanishing due to the chemist is introduced into the story after meeting the couple and not knowing his true intent. We know that it is not a good intent just from the way his is portrayed, fake cast, unknown bottle, and following Saskia into the building. Then later finally show his actions and intent after you are full introduced to him. In the Vanishing you meet him right away and understand his intent right away. My final point for why Spoorloos is better is the Key chain. Yes it seems small but was very important to the movie. The Key chain in Spoorloos starts off as a conflict point because Saskia does not like the key chain and notices the Chemist and want to buy one because it has Rex initial. This seems legit. The language barrier makes the scene more interesting and what eventually causes the kidnapping. In the Vanishing it’s a random bracelet that his daughter made and Bullock notices and wants to buy one for Sutherland. That just seems random and doesn’t give a reason why Bullock would buy one other than he might like it.

Painful scenes in Killer of Sheep

I am not going to be mean but this movie Killer of Sheep was painful to watch. Yes some of it was the lambs being killed and gutted, which was lovely to see but not the most difficult part of the movie to watch. The most difficult part of watching this movie was the use of camera effects. I understand that this is a visual novel but the use of the camera was not used to its fullest and seemed thrown together. One of the pet peeves that I had was easily shown with the scene of the engine being carried down the stairs. The shot follows the characters Stan and Bracy caring the engine down the stairs. This scene was done at multiple angles and multiple shots. The first shot of them taking the engine out the door exemplifies one of the peeves that the camera shot tracks the two and it seems the camera man switches between the engine and the characters. This is just one of the many examples where the camera is at a mid shot and cuts out characters, their faces, and scenery. I feel like if a wider shot was used more of the scene could have affected the viewers more. The other part of the scene is following of the engine as it moves down the stairs. As the engine gets to the stairs, the shot changes for the worse. The camera gets in close showing the engine and then tilting down to show the step and back up. Again as said above a wider shot or a zoomed out shot would have conveyed the shot better. As they set the engine down (most likely to take a break) the shot improves dramatically with a full shot of the situation the guys are in. The camera comes back in for a close up and back out to the full shot and back in where the guys set the engine back down for the second time. This is where it gets worse, the camera stay zoomed in and the stairs its self get in the way and you only see the characters in maybe 1/4^th of the shot. I feel like the same shot could have been accomplished with what was discussed in our first class. Use the shot of the characters in the full shot and them moving down the stairs, when they pause zoom in then skip a head to further down the second part of stairs but a full shot facing the engine. This could have cut scene time and made a better viewing experience overall. The last painful/cringe worthy moment is when the engine is put in the truck. As someone with a truck and moves a large amount of stuff, I knew that engine would fall. All that work would be for nothing and felt so bad for him.

The Mexican Standoff. The good the bad and the ugly

The scene I am breaking down is the very last shootout between Angel Eyes, Blondie, and Tuko. This scene is considered to be one of the best showdowns and the best Mexican standoff of all time. If you start the scene from when Blondie (Clint Eastwood) puts down the rock to when he picks it back up the standoff lasts for over 5 minutes and the stare down last for more than half of that time. To begin the breakdown the key aspect of the scene is how the set was designed. It starts with the backdrop of a great plain desert like area, most likely Texas, where the characters are set up in a grave yard. These affects are meant to give off the classic western feel and the feeling of death is in the air. This gives off the feeling that one or more of the characters will meet their demise. The music in the scene emphasizes this even more with the classic rattler sounds, picking of guitar strings, and the, for the lack of a better description, dark Mariachi band music. These sound affects intensifies the scene giving the audience a better feel for the life and death in the scene. The last main affect that helps showoff the Mexican standoff even more is the use of the camera shots. The scene starts off with a wide shot showing two of the characters in background along with the backdrop with the hero (Blondie) as a mid level shot. This sets up the scene of what is going to happen and as the hero sets down the name it zooms in for a close up of the rock showing its importance. As the scene progress the director uses first an eye-level full shot then switches a couple of high angle full shot to show the distance and setting between all three characters. Next is a wide shot with one charter in the background and one at mid level to show the close to equal distance between the actors and the set up of the standoff. Next comes the close to 3 minutes of close up shots. Panning between the characters faces and their guns again intensifies the experience. As the close ups progress the scene shows them looking at each other and eventually two of the characters give a clue to what the showdown will come too. As the showdown is about to start the close up moves to Angel Eyes hand moving to his gun thus showing who will make the first move. To complete the standoff the scene is backed out to a high level full shot to show the winners of the match.

Is Awara a Musical?

Being brought up on musicals like The King and I and Singing in the Rain it seems Awara carries on that tune as a musical. One of the main criteria, at least of mine, that a musical must have the flash mob mentality. What I mean by this is that there is a group of people singing without cause too. Also that it seems to have been setup or rehearsed which is easily shown with others randomly joining in without missing a beat. The very first song is a great example, this is when Judge Raghunath and his wife are out on the boat and what seems like everyone break out in song and dance. Though it is reminiscent of what we know Bollywood today to be, it presents a good example of my first criteria. In real life it is very doubtful that many people have just come to sing about the couple without everyone on board like in a flash mob. Also singing giving the audience foresight in to what the couple will go through means you kind of planned it out. This also leads into my second reason I consider Awara a musical is that the songs used in the film are part of the plot and moving the story line on. There are multiple scenes where this is shown throughout the movie that gives detail to the plot like in the same scene the song depicts that “your boat is headed into a storm”. Thus forecasting that the couple will run into trouble and ultimately justice Raghunath casting out his wife and son to live in the slums

Will

Film Noir alters the perception of characters.

In the Film Detour one of the very first stereotypes of Film Noir is the Omniscient Narrator and the Flashback. This is shown by the main character Al Roberts and his down on luck attitude in the beginning of the movie. This is very reminiscent of one of the more famous movies in the Film Noir Citizen Kane were their demise is shown early on. Even though in this case we don't learn of his full demise until the end Al Roberts shows his distress by being like Eeyore in every way and seems to hate the world. He then tries to convey to the audience his side by narrating his story in a flash back which last for 90% of the movie. He begins to try and show how he is out of luck and his girl has left him to go to L.A. He decides to go after her and that’s when things hit the fan. After finding a car ride to Los Angeles after days of hitch hiking he gets into a predicament when Charles Haskell Jr., the car owner, passes away in his sleep. Trying to convey his innocence he reasons with the audience that no one would believe him and hides the body and takes his personality. Thus following the stereotype of Film noir, he pours his conscious out to the audience while going against what is right. Though now a days with CSI and the NSA im sure Gibbs could have saved him. Anyway this stereotype runs right along with the movie with Roberts trying to reason what he had to do. And through his conscious he is kept under Vera’s finger nail because he knew leaving Haskell Jr. there was wrong. In the end it shows his ultimate demise being taken to jail where his final plea is said to the audience “Fate, or some mysterious force, can put the finger on you or me for no good reason at all”.

How "Freaks" is not a Horror

For the movie Freaks, I believe that it was placed in the horror category for the wrong reasons from a society that is not as accepting as today’s is. From my perspective it would be more like a drama/thriller/human rights genre. Freaks showed it was more of a drama by switching relationships, going from Phroso and Venus relationship problems to the difficulty of Siamese twins getting married to the, lack of a better word, “gold digger” marriage of Hans and Cleopatra. Along with the relationship drama Freaks had a lightheartedness about it, where Phroso forgot to take Venus out because what looked like he was taking a bath but in reality a skit for his next show. The theme continues with the Siamese twins too. Where Rosco is marring Daisy but since Violet (no nice way of putting this) stuck with her, the drama of the relationship ensues. Later on in the movie Violet gets engaged and the two men meet for the first time they offer that they each should come over some time and act as if there isn’t a problem with the idea. There isn’t as much to joke about when Hans is marring Cleopatra, where her goal is to get to Hans fortune. This shows that it is more of a soap opera thriller than horror. Cleopatra discusses this with strongman about how they will become rich while others over hear and not until the “One of us” song Hans learns of her true intention. The thriller comes in next where Strongman comes in but stopped by Phoso, once outside attacked by the others in the circus. This is where people of today would see it as a thriller not a horror. The people are not supposed to be scary here it’s the fact that there are people coming to kill you. This is where today's society and early 20th centuries clash. They maybe different and out of what we call the norm but as the movie tried to portray they are human beings that love, joke, have real life drama, and most of all have feelings too. 

Sherlock Jr. and Keaton's variety Gags

         1. Sherlock Jr. displays a wide variety of visual gags and stunts. How effective are they and how they relate to contemporary comedy.

        The stunts in Sherlock Jr. are classics now and have become repetitive to everyday society there is still no doubt with the right music they can at least get generate a smile. Though in the early days of moving pictures there wasn’t any other way. Keaton I believe shows his comedic skills in numerous ways from the banana peel to scene jumping to the runaway vehicle. Depending the amount of video games you have played the banana peel gag is still relevant if you want to finish well in Mario Kart. The peel has become the icon of slipping so much so that there is even Mythbusters episode busting the myth. The other gag was scene jumping, while not used as much by today’s standards it is a Looney Tunes classic, from jumping out of paintings in Looney Tunes: Back in Action to Bugs changing the background on Daffy. Though not done in this century the gag of changing scenes on Daffy I think was the best Tune. The changing of scenes on the actor makes it easy to bring up new or different material which give the creator comedic freedom. Lastly there is the runaway vehicle scene with well timed clearing of obstacles and one of the most recent uses is in Anchorman 2. Though there was a bit of a twist with thinking its cruise control, laughs were still had at the rampaging van that had a mind of its own veering across traffic.